Please pray for me and the Lord’s work and the students in Asia. I will be leaving the USA on January 31 for Thailand and return on February 15. I am making this trip primarily for the Laotians who will attend, although Thai have asked if they can attend again. We will be traveling to a remote town on the Laotian border. The Lao Christians are passionate about studying and learning God’s Word. They have been praying that God would send someone to teach them. Currently they don’t know how to establish worship according to God’s Word. I will be teaching them about God’s Word on this trip, but plan to teach them what Scripture says about worship service on my next trip. Laos is a communist nation, and while I cannot go in there, they can come across the border. I praise God for the privilege of teaching them His Word. Please pray for our safety. Please pray that God would give me wisdom to teach and give them understanding of His Word. When I teach them, I simply use God’s clear Word…

This is on Bohde’s translator Montree as he reported it.

” Pastor Montree is my translator. This is a brief biography of his family while he was growing up.

Mother who never give up

I was born in Laos, in year 1971, my parents and all of their relatives were worshiped Animists. When I was 2 months old my father began to sick, at that time in the country sides of Laos country, no hospital no medicine and only two ways the people could do when they got sick;

1. Using herbal as old traditional medicines some time using opium as pain relief then many Hmong became drug trafficker.

2. Ask the spirits by the shaman, the Hmong believed that shaman could contact to the evil spirits or his spirit could travel to the hell and negotiate or bargain with the devil or demons.

When the herbals way didn’t work to my father, they turned to the shamans and all shamans concluded that my father was attacked by the demons and the ancestors of my father who were passed away living in hell (Darkness with dry land no food no water), they were so poor and so hungry and they wanted to eat, need to pay sacrifice by killing cows, pigs, sacrificed to the demons and offered to ancestors and they will free my father’s spirit. The Hmong believe that if the ancestors were hungry they will cause the descendants to sick and request sacrifices from the descendants. My mother killed a lot of cows and pigs they did rituals to offer the sacrifices to the demons and ancestors 3-4 times a week. Even they offered a lot of sacrifices until they became poor but my father became worse and worst. My mother was so boring and tired in taking care of animism she wanted to escape but couldn’t. Once she heard that there is one man name Jesus lives in Thailand if anyone believed in him could be apart with animists and also victorious over demons, evils. My mother decided to move us from Laos to Thailand, Nan Province when I was only 8 months old even all relatives did not agree and tried to stop her but she was so brave she did not listen to anyone. When we got to Thailand we found that Jesus was not a living man but He is the Son of God sent to the world to redeem the world if anyone believed in him will be save. We received Jesus Christ and found that my father was not attacking by any demons but he got cancer, when I was 2 years old my father passed away. Thank you God we were so poor you could imagine a family with 11 children everyone still very young the father got sick with cancer 2 years and died, no money no food no friends no relatives, lived in the small hut (bamboo and grass house) in the new country. Thank you God the Church help us about the funeral.

Since we became a Christian even we were so poor but peaceful in our hearts no more sacrificing no more worshiping animism my mother worked so hard to feed her 10 children. When I was a childhood I went to school with no uniform no shoes no money to buy lunch I drank water instead food and went back to class many times of abused but God saved my life. Thank you God, God is so good, He blesses me as in the Bible said “multiply 100 times 60 times and 30 times.

I have many choices in my life to make money but I knew life in the world is too short now is time to serve God and response his calling. I believe that if I was not His chosen, I wouldn’t be alive until now. Now I devote my life, my family to serve God and help the poor as I could because I was so poor when I was young but God saved me blesses over my life prepared me to help another. Now I have a good wife 3 children with a warming family, these are enough to me praise God.”

This came from Bohde’s translator on Jan. 25th.

“Hello Mark,

I have told them about the condition of being a students, they have to teach others, they all promised me but they would like to let me go to visit them and help them to teach one or two times. They need help one or two times, then they can run by themselves,

As I taught in my church, they were so excited to follow the lessons. The books are very interested to them and very helpful for their faith. Now there is one team in Laos nearby Chiangkong District, Chiangrai Province waiting for us to teach them, but I did not promise them yet because I need to talk to you first, we can talk when you come.

When you get to Chiangmai just let me know and I will come to pick you on Monday the 6th then we go to Nan.

May blessing

Montree”

Please continue to pray for the work. We are getting many requests to come and teach. As the Lord gives opportunity, we will definitely go. Our goal is to spread God’s Word in Asia as God permits. I have attached a map showing with red dots where we will teach in Vietnam in the Spring, God willing. I will also add the location mentioned in the email above from Montree. As I add new materials to teach, I will send each of you copies so you can see what I teach and what the students are learning. Blessings, Mark